SUBMITTED BY: Jamie Johnson, Senior Director of Rick Perry’s National Campaign

I am honored to be working with Governor Rick Perry, a humble public servant who has given 35 years of his life to defending liberty, establishing justice, securing peace, and promoting prosperity in American life. Whether as a captain in the United States Air Force, a state legislator, a commissioner of agriculture, a lieutenant governor, or the longest-serving governor of Texas, Rick Perry has exemplified humility, dedication, and courage in every office in which he has served. He is a man worthy of the Office of President of the United States.

In an age of narcissism, when so many politicians exchange the honorable calling of civic leadership for the baser and darker motivation to acquire and exploit power, Rick Perry has remained the quintessential public servant. Perhaps that’s because the little boy who grew up in the tiny West Texas community of Paint Creek (pop. 90) has always believed that service to God and country is enough of a reward. The Eagle Scout who graduated from a high school class of 13 became a decorated Air Force pilot and the most successful American governor of the last 100 years. Yet he has never exploited public office for personal gain. Throughout his 35 years of service to his country and state, the ideals that he learned on that dryland cotton farm, near a town so small that it did not even appear on the map until he became Governor, provided all the moral ballast he has needed to navigate the stormy waters of political temptation that sink so many people in high office.

Perry has his father, Ray, and his mother, Amelia, to thank for his presidential mettle. Ray Perry, 90, has been the governor’s hero all his life, molding him year after developmental year through a life of hard work, quiet courage, and earthy faith. He was a tenant farmer who had previously flown 35 combat missions as a B-17 tail gunner over Nazi-dominated Europe during World War II, and his son reflects the same spirit. Amelia Perry, 86, provided him with a strong moral compass and a love for hearth and home. His earliest memories include her bathing him in a #2 washtub on the back porch because their home had no running water. And because money was tight, she had to hand-make his clothing until he went off to college.

Rick Perry is a man who knows what it means to have nothing yet, by the grace of God, attain everything. That is why he has never forgotten the poor, the outcast, or the hurting. Just ask the “Lone Survivor” Marcus Luttrell, a United States Navy SEAL who, upon coming home to Texas after suffering at the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan, knocked at the gates of the Governor’s Mansion and asked Perry for help. The Governor and First Lady took him in and had him live with them for over two years, making a bedroom for him in the mansion, and helping him get the care he needed as he struggled to heal from the physical and psychological wounds of war. Luttrell looks to the Governor as a father figure, or, in his words, one who “taught me how to be a good man.” That is why he asked the Governor and Mrs. Perry to be the godparents of his children.

Rick Perry’s story is, in many ways, America’s story

Born of humble beginnings, inspired by hopeful dreams, filled with unbridled optimism, and marked by the enduring values of goodness, peace, and honor. America needs men like Rick Perry.

And although John Adams never lived to meet him, the Second President’s prayer that is etched on the fireplace mantle of the State Dining Room in the White House may yet be heard by the Almighty on his behalf:

“I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.”  

Amen.

Jamie Johnson
Senior National Director, Perry For President